IPv6 Essentials Second Edition

A Guide to Painlessly Integrating IPv6 into Your IPv4 Network

ISBN: 0596100587

Pages: 418

Publisher: O’Reilly

Topic: Networking

When Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn figured out the original workings of
IP, it was for a network of fewer than a hundred hosts, but their work has
continued to serve the Internet well for many years. Today, however, the sheer
number of devices to be connected means that we are fast running out of address
space. This is just one of the problems that IPv6 has been designed to address.
IPv6 offers scalability, increased security features, real-time traffic support, and auto-configuration, but what does this mean for IT professionals? Having learned all the strengths and weaknesses of the old protocol, do they abandon that knowledge and start afresh with the new? In the new second edition of her book, “IPv6 Essentials” (O’Reilly), author Silvia Hagen provides a succinct, in-depth tour of everything IT professionals will need to know to plan for, design, and integrate IPv6 into their current IPv4 infrastructure.

Hagen covers all the new features and functions in IPv6, discussing everything
readers will need to understand to get started, including how to configure IPv6
on hosts and routers, and which applications currently support IPv6.

Hagen says “The IPv6 wave is approaching. Many people don’t see it yet and
believe it is far away, if it will ever come. The fact is, deployments are
increasing and it is in use far more than people are aware. It is true, that
right now there may not be an imperative reason for an organization to deploy
right now, but applications and address demands will soon demand IPv6. Those
that have already done their homework and have an idea of how to integrate it
into their networks will have an easier time and save money.”

Aimed at system and network administrators, engineers, network designers, and IT managers, “IPv6 Essentials, Second Edition” will help readers prepare for the next chapter in the future of the Net.

Beginning with a short history of IPv6, Hagen provides an overview of new
functionality and market situations, and discusses why we need IPv6. Hagen also
includes exhaustive discussions of the new IPv6 header format and extension
headers, IPv6 address and ICMPv6 message formats, security, QoS, mobility, and,
last but not least, offers a Quick Start Guide for different operating systems.
Hagen covers the following topics and more:

-In-depth technical details of IPv6
-Mechanisms and case studies that show how to integrate IPv6 into your network
without interruption of IPv4 services
-Routing protocols and upper-layer protocols
-Security concepts and requirements in IPv6, including the IPSEC framework and
security elements available for authentication and encryption
-The elements available for Quality of Service (QoS) in IPv6 and how they can be
implemented
-DHCPv6 and Mobile IPv6
-Migration costs and business cases
-How to get started on different operating systems: Sun Solaris, Linux, BSD, Windows XP, and Cisco routers

“The book is very thorough and explains the protocol from the packet level,
which is a great way to learn about how a protocol works,” says Hagen. “After
explaining all the new and cool features of IPv6, I explain how IPv6 will grow
into our networks peacefully with all the interoperability and transition
mechanisms that have been carefully designed by the developers. I give readers
an idea of how they can plan for deployment and at what point they should start using IPv6. Finally, the last chapter explains how to get started on different operating systems. It explains where to get IPv6 stacks, the IPv6 tools that are available, and shows some common tasks that can be done in a test environment.”

Whether you’re ready to start implementing IPv6 today or are planning your strategy for the future, “IPv6 Essentials, Second Edition” will provide the solid foundation you need to get started.